Atlanta City Council Approves Legislation to Establish Annual Fund for Affordable Housing
ATLANTA — The Atlanta City Council approved legislation Monday to amend the City Charter and establish an annual fund for affordable housing initiatives in Atlanta (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0777). The legislation directs two percent of the general fund toward affordable housing each fiscal year by creating the “Building the Beloved Community Affordable Housing Trust Fund.” The process of setting aside two percent will be phased in over a three-year period at the beginning of each fiscal year to include 1 percent for Fiscal Year 2023, one and one-half percent for Fiscal Year 2024 and two percent for Fiscal Year 2025. As a charter amendment, this legislation required two adoptions by the Council. Monday’s vote was the final adoption.
Other items approved Monday include:
• A resolution calling for a referendum to impose a Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales and Use Tax (TSPLOST) within the City to fund transportation purposes (Legislative Reference No. 21-R-3927).
• A resolution authorizing the calling of a special election to vote as to whether bonds totaling $400 million should be issued as a General Obligation Public Improvement Bond for infrastructure improvements in Atlanta (Legislative Reference No. 21-R-3928).
• A resolution authorizing the City of Atlanta’s chief financial officer to identify the optimal funding source in an amount of $35 million or the amount necessary to complete construction of Phase II of the proposed Public Safety Training Center on Key Road to include such improvements as enhanced trails, public park spaces, a 911 call center, additional training facilities, and a fueling station (Legislative Reference No. 21-R-4320). In September, the Council approved legislation authorizing a ground lease agreement with the Atlanta Police Foundation to build the public safety training campus on City-owned property (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0367).
• An ordinance authorizing the chief financial officer to amend the Fiscal Year 2022 general fund budget in the amount of $6 million by transferring funds from the uncommitted fund balance to support the emergency demolition and reconstruction of Cheshire Bridge Road due to the natural gas fire (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0930).
• A resolution authorizing the mayor or her designee to execute documents related to the sale of the Centennial Parking Deck and the Philips surface lot by the City of Atlanta and Fulton County Recreation Authority and the construction of certain improvements to John A. White Park by Spring Street (Atlanta) LLC (Legislative Reference No. 21-R-4258). The Authority will commission the demolition of the existing facility and the construction of a new community learning center.
• An ordinance to amend the City’s Code of Ordinances to extend the temporary on-street dining permit program until the end of 2022 (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0891). In 2020, the Council adopted legislation to establish regulations for establishments wishing to operate outdoor dining areas on the street in the public right-of-way to promote public health through social distancing and add character to the streetscape environment (Legislative Reference No. 20-O-1691).
• An ordinance to amend the City’s Code of Ordinances to provide that if the mayor does not decide on a pending License Review Board case before Dec. 31 at the conclusion of the mayoral term, the recommendations of the board will become the decision of the mayor (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0962). Currently, after the finding of due cause, the mayor has the authority to deny, revoke or suspend licenses based on the board’s recommendation. However, there is currently no provision regarding what occurs when a due cause case is pending after a mayoral term ends.
• An ordinance to amend the Fiscal Year 2022 Intergovernmental Grant Fund Budget to reprogram $945,899 of Housing Opportunities for Person with AIDS (HOPWA) funds allocated in the 2020 Annual Action Plan of the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan to the Africa Children’s Fund. (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0932). The Africa’s Children’s Fund is a nonprofit based in Atlanta that provides rental, utility, and mortgage assistance to HIV/AIDS affected individuals and families at risk of homelessness.
• A resolution urging the Georgia General Assembly to support the City of Atlanta’s 2022 legislative package, which includes items on protecting city boundaries, transportation, affordability, voting rights, open meetings, and public safety (Legislative Reference No. 21-R-4259).
• A resolution expressing the City of Atlanta’s support for a partnership between the City of Atlanta and The Conservation Fund pursuant to which The Conservation Fund will undertake activities to preserve the over 75 acres of land which was the former site of the Chattahoochee Brick Company, and will work with the City and Lincoln Terminal Company, the current owner, to acquire and preserve this property as parkland, greenspace, recreation, and watershed acreage (Legislative Reference No. 21-R-4318).
• An ordinance to amend the City of Atlanta’s Zoning Ordinance to create a definition for “short-term rental” to support the City’s regulatory framework established to govern the legal operation of short-term rentals within Atlanta pursuant to 20-O-1656 adopted by the Council in March 2021 (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0682).
• A resolution to create a commission to determine an appropriate manner to honor the late Michael Langford. A long-time Atlanta community leader and activist, Langford died on Nov. 16, 2021. This item was immediately approved.
Several items were referred for consideration during a special called remote meeting of the Council on Monday, Dec. 20, including:
• An ordinance to amend the City’s Code of Ordinances to adjust the taxes, assessments, services fees, and charges billed for solid water services, waste collection and recycling charges, charges for street related sanitary services based on equivalent trip generation charges for general good related sanitary services based on a property’s under roof square footage (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0873).
• An ordinance to amend the City’s Code of Ordinances to adjust the taxes, assessments, services fees, and charges for solid water services and the establishment of sanitary assessments for street related sanitary services and general common good related sanitary services based on taxable property value. (Legislative Reference No. 21-O-0876).
About Atlanta City Council
The Atlanta City Council is the chief policy-making body for the City of Atlanta. It acts by considering and enacting all laws that govern the City. The Council also approves the operating and capital budgets for the City as recommended by the mayor, and it continually monitors revenues and expenditures for local government operations. The Council reviews and has final say on many land-use and zoning matters. Major economic development projects for the City also fall under the Council’s consideration.
The Atlanta City Council is comprised of 12 districts and three at-large posts. Council representatives include: Council President: Felicia A. Moore; District 1: Carla Smith; District 2: Amir Farokhi; District 3: Antonio Brown; District 4: Cleta Winslow; District 5: Natalyn Mosby Archibong; District 6: Jennifer N. Ide; District 7: Howard Shook; District 8: J.P. Matzigkeit; District 9: Dustin Hillis; District 10: Andrea L. Boone; District 11: Marci Collier Overstreet; District 12: Joyce M. Sheperd; Post 1 At-Large: Michael Julian Bond; Post 2 At-Large: Matt Westmoreland; and Post 3 At-Large: Andre Dickens.
To learn more about the Atlanta City Council, please visit http://citycouncil.atlantaga.gov/. For the latest updates, follow the Atlanta City Council on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
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